July 31st, 2012

Ken Korman on a new documentary about musicians inside Angola State Prison
by Ken Korman
Canadian roots musician Rita Chiarelli chased the ghosts of bluesman Robert Pete Williams and folksinger Lead Belly (among others) all the way to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, where these legendary Louisiana musicians long ago made their names. What Chiarelli found was something unexpected: a lesson in forgiveness, especially as it applies to incarcerated men often dismissed by society as unworthy.…